Terminal and base station

By configuring PRS multiplexing across carriers with timing error measurements and adjustments, the technique addresses transmission timing errors in wireless communication systems, enhancing positioning accuracy.

JP7769000B2Active Publication Date: 2025-11-12NTT DOCOMO INC
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Patent Information

Application Number
JP2023554225
Authority / Receiving Office
JP · JP
Patent Type
Patents
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2021-10-22
Publication Date
2025-11-12
Estimated Expiration
2041-10-22

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Conventional wireless communication systems face challenges in accurately positioning devices due to transmission timing errors when positioning reference signals (PRS) are multiplexed and transmitted across multiple carriers, as the settings related to PRS multiplexing are not clear and do not account for these errors.

Method used

A technique is introduced where a terminal receives configuration information for PRS multiplexing across multiple carriers, measures or is notified of transmission timing errors, and adjusts operations accordingly to reduce the impact of these errors, using carrier multiplexing patterns and timing error measurements.

Benefits of technology

This approach effectively reduces the influence of transmission timing errors during PRS multiplexing, enabling more accurate positioning by compensating for timing-based errors and ensuring appropriate PRS multiplexing operations.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

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Abstract

A terminal according to the present invention comprises a reception unit that receives, from a base station, configuration information of a positioning reference signal to be multiplexed between a plurality of carriers, and a control unit that assumes that the reference signal will be multiplexed between a plurality of carriers using a carrier multiplex pattern sent by the base station.
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Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a terminal and a base station in a wireless communication system. [Background technology]

[0002] The 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) is currently studying a wireless communication system called 5G or NR (New Radio) (hereinafter referred to as "NR") in order to achieve even larger system capacity, even faster data transmission speeds, and even lower latency in wireless sections. Various wireless technologies and network architectures are being studied for 5G to meet the requirements of achieving a throughput of 10 Gbps or more while keeping latency in wireless sections to 1 ms or less.

[0003] Positioning, which uses reference signals and other signals to determine positioning, is also being studied. For example, one positioning method involves a terminal receiving downlink (DL) reference signals (DL-PRS (Positioning Reference Signal)) from multiple base stations and determining its position based on the time difference between the reception timings. Another method involves a terminal transmitting uplink (UL) reference signals (UL-PRS) to multiple base stations and determining its position based on the time difference between the reception timings. Another method involves positioning based on the beam transmission angle or arrival angle. [Prior art documents] [Non-patent literature]

[0004] [Non-Patent Document 1] 3GPP TS 38.331 V16.5.0 (2021-06) [Non-patent document 2] 3GPP TS 38.104 V16.8.0 (2021-06) Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In conventional technologies, PRSs are set in units of CCs (component carriers) (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1). However, to improve positioning accuracy, it is desirable to transmit PRSs in a wider band. Therefore, technologies such as MIMO Carrier Aggregation (CA) are being studied to multiplex and transmit PRSs across multiple CCs. This technology is called, for example, PRS multiplexing.

[0006] Generally, when performing inter-CC multiplexing, a transmission timing error occurs due to the antenna connector on the transmitting side. Therefore, when performing PRS multiplexing, it is expected that timing-based positioning will be affected by the transmission timing error. However, in conventional technologies, the settings related to PRS multiplexing are not clear, and it is not possible to deal with the impact of the transmission timing error.

[0007] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and aims to provide a technique for reducing the influence of transmission timing errors when a reference signal used for positioning is multiplexed and transmitted across multiple carriers. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] According to the disclosed technology, a receiver receives, from a base station, configuration information for a positioning reference signal multiplexed among a plurality of carriers; a control unit that assumes that the reference signal is multiplexed among a plurality of carriers according to a carrier multiplexing pattern notified by the base station; a transmitter unit, A terminal, wherein the receiving unit receives a positioning reference signal transmitted using a plurality of carriers of the carrier multiplexing pattern, or the transmitting unit transmits a positioning reference signal using a plurality of carriers of the carrier multiplexing pattern, The receiving unit receives an instruction to measure a transmission timing error between carriers or information indicating a transmission timing error between carriers from the base station. A terminal is provided. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the disclosed technology, when a reference signal used for positioning is multiplexed and transmitted across multiple carriers, the influence of a transmission timing error can be reduced. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 1 is a diagram illustrating a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a TAE. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an example of operation in the first embodiment. [Figure 5] 1 is a diagram for explaining an operation example 1 in the first embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an operation example 2 in the first embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a second embodiment. [Figure 8] 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a base station 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a terminal 20 according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a base station 10, a terminal 20, or an LMF 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a vehicle. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiment described below is an example, and the embodiment to which the present invention is applied is not limited to the following embodiment.

[0012] (System Configuration) Fig. 1 is a diagram for explaining a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1, the wireless communication system according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a base station 10 and a terminal 20. The core network is also provided with an LMF 30, which is capable of communicating with the base station 10. The LMF 30 may also communicate with the base station 10 via an AMF.

[0013] 1 shows one base station 10 and one terminal 20, this is an example and there may be a plurality of each. For example, there may be a plurality of base stations 10 that serve as transmission sources of DL-PRS received by terminal 20 (or reception destinations of UL-PRS).

[0014] The base station 10 is a communication device that provides one or more cells and performs wireless communication with the terminal 20. The physical resources of a wireless signal are defined in the time domain and the frequency domain, and the time domain may be defined by the number of OFDM symbols, and the frequency domain may be defined by the number of subcarriers or the number of resource blocks. Furthermore, a TTI (Transmission Time Interval) in the time domain may be a slot, or the TTI may be a subframe. Note that a cell and a CC may be considered synonymous.

[0015] Base station 10 is capable of performing carrier aggregation, which aggregates multiple cells (multiple CCs (component carriers)) to communicate with terminal 20. In carrier aggregation, one PCell (primary cell) and one or more SCells (secondary cells) are used.

[0016] The base station 10 transmits a synchronization signal, system information, and the like to the terminal 20. The synchronization signal is, for example, NR-PSS and NR-SSS. The system information is transmitted, for example, on the NR-PBCH or PDSCH, and is also called broadcast information. As shown in FIG. 1 , the base station 10 transmits control signals or data to the terminal 20 on the DL (Downlink) and receives control signals or data from the terminal 20 on the UL (Uplink). Note that, here, what is transmitted on a control channel such as the PUCCH or PDCCH is called a control signal, and what is transmitted on a shared channel such as the PUSCH or PDSCH is called data, but these names are merely examples. Furthermore, UCI (Uplink Control Information) is transmitted on the PUCCH or PUSCH.

[0017] The terminal 20 is a communication device equipped with a wireless communication function, such as a smartphone, a mobile phone, a tablet, a wearable terminal, or an M2M (Machine-to-Machine) communication module. As shown in Fig. 1, the terminal 20 receives control signals or data from the base station 10 via DL and transmits control signals or data to the base station 10 via UL, thereby utilizing various communication services provided by the wireless communication system. The terminal 20 may be referred to as a UE, and the base station 10 may be referred to as a gNB.

[0018] Terminal 20 is capable of performing carrier aggregation, which aggregates multiple cells (multiple CCs (component carriers)) to communicate with base station 10. In carrier aggregation, one PCell (primary cell) and one or more SCells (secondary cells) are used. Also, a PUCCH-SCell having a PUCCH may be used.

[0019] The LMF 30 is a function (device) responsible for communication control related to the location information service defined in 5GC. The LMF 30 may also be called a location management server or a location management device. The LMF 30 can receive, for example, measurement results (time difference, angle, etc.) of reference signals from the terminal 20 or the base station 10 and calculate the position of the terminal 20. The LMF 30 can also provide setting information or control information related to positioning to the terminal 20 and the base station 10.

[0020] Fig. 2 shows an example of the configuration of a wireless communication system when DC (Dual connectivity) is implemented. As shown in Fig. 2, a base station 10A serving as an MN (Master Node) and a base station 10B serving as an SN (Secondary Node) are provided. The base station 10A and the base station 10B are each connected to a core network 40. A terminal 20 can communicate with both the base station 10A and the base station 10B.

[0021] A cell group provided by base station 10A, which is an MN, is called an MCG (Master Cell Group), and a cell group provided by base station 10B, which is an SN, is called an SCG (Secondary Cell Group). In addition, in a DC, an MCG is composed of one PCell and one or more SCells, and an SCG is composed of one PSCell (Primary SCell) and one or more SCells.

[0022] The processing operations in this embodiment may be executed in the system configuration shown in FIG. 1, in the system configuration shown in FIG. 2, or in any other system configuration.

[0023] (Basic operation examples, assignments) A reference signal used for positioning is called a PRS. In this embodiment, CA (carrier aggregation) is used to use a wide band for transmitting the PRS, thereby achieving highly accurate positioning. That is, the base station 10 or the terminal 20 performs PRS multiplexing, which multiplexes and transmits the PRS among multiple CCs.

[0024] Specifically, in DL, base station 10 simultaneously transmits PRSs using multiple CCs, and terminal 20 performs aggregated reception of the PRSs transmitted using multiple CCs to perform measurements. Also, in UL, terminal 20 simultaneously transmits PRSs using multiple CCs, and base station 10 simultaneously receives PRSs transmitted using multiple CCs to perform measurements.

[0025] The multiplexing pattern of the above multiple CCs may be intra-band contiguous carriers, intra-band non-contiguous carriers, inter-band carriers, or any other carrier multiplexing pattern.

[0026] As mentioned above, when performing inter-CC multiplexing, a transmission timing error generally occurs due to the antenna connector on the transmitting side. For this reason, Non-Patent Document 2 (TS 38.104) specifies the allowable timing error (Time Alignment Error: TAE) for each CA pattern assuming MIMO CA. The specified content is shown in Figure 3. TAE is the maximum value of the timing difference between two different signals. Note that TAE represents the allowable value (maximum allowable value) of the timing error, but for convenience, in the examples described later, TAE may be used to mean the measured timing error or the maximum timing error that a device has as a function.

[0027] When PRS multiplexing between CCs, the impact of TAE is a particular concern in time-based positioning (e.g., TDOA). For example, in a given positioning scenario, a TAE of 1 ns can result in a positioning error of 0.3 m, while a TAE of 260 ns can result in a positioning error of 78 m.

[0028] Hereinafter, a technique for reducing the TAE effect (the effect of transmission timing error) when multiplexing between PRS CCs and realizing highly accurate positioning using a wide band will be described using Examples 0 to 2.

[0029] (Summary of the Example) An overview of the operations of Examples 0 to 2 is as follows. In the following description, "A / B" means "A or B, or A and B." In addition, in the following description, for convenience of explanation, regarding communication between a terminal 20 and a base station 10, it is shown that the terminal 20 communicates with one base station 10, but the terminal 20 may perform the operation described below with each of multiple base stations that are the source of transmission of DL-PRS (or the destination of reception of UL-PRS). In addition, in the following description, the network (NW) may be replaced with the base station 10. In addition, in the following description, "CC" may be replaced with "cell."

[0030] In the following description, it is assumed that the UL-PRS is an SRS for positioning, but a signal other than an SRS for positioning may be used as the UL-PRS.

[0031] Example 0 (high level proposal): The terminal 20 assumes that PRS multiplexing is configured from the NW.

[0032] Example 1: It is assumed that when PRS multiplexing is set, the terminal 20 is notified of the TAE measurement or the assumed TAE from the NW.

[0033] Second Embodiment: A TAE dedicated to positioning is defined, and the terminal 20 and the base station 10 operate in accordance with this definition.

[0034] Each embodiment will be described in detail below. The embodiments 0 to 2 described below can be implemented in any combination.

[0035] (Example 0) In the embodiment 0, it is assumed that PRS multiplexing is set from the network in the terminal 20. An example of the basic operation in the embodiment 0 will be described with reference to FIG.

[0036] In S101, the terminal 20 transmits capability information (UE capability) to the base station 10. Note that S101 may not be performed.

[0037] In S102, the base station 10 transmits setting information related to PRS multiplexing to the terminal 20, and this information is received by the terminal 20. The PRS here may be either a DL-PRS or a UL-PRS.

[0038] For example, in S103, the terminal 20 receives the DL-PRS transmitted simultaneously using multiple CCs based on the DL-PRS setting information, and measures the timing, angle, and the like.

[0039] Also, for example, in S104, terminal 20 simultaneously transmits UL-PRS using multiple CCs based on the UL-PRS setting information, and base station 10 measures the timing, angle, and the like.

[0040] The setting information related to PRS multiplexing includes, for example, information on multiple CCs used for PRS multiplexing (e.g., identifiers of each CC or each cell) and setting information for PRS for each CC (e.g., time / frequency resources, offset, period, number of repetitions, beam information, etc. of PRS). Note that the PRS setting information may be the same among multiple CCs used for multiplexing, and this same single setting information may be transmitted from base station 10 to terminal 20 in S102 as PRS setting information common to the multiple CCs.

[0041] Regarding the setting information of S102, a PRS that performs PRS multiplexing may be configured in the terminal 20 as part of the setting information for a PRS that does not perform PRS multiplexing (e.g., an existing PRS described in non-patent document 1), or PRS setting information for a PRS that performs PRS multiplexing may be configured in the terminal 20 separately from a PRS that does not perform PRS multiplexing.

[0042] <Example 0: Setting the CA pattern and positioning method> A CA pattern for PRS multiplexing may be configured / activated / indicated by RRC / MAC-CE / DCI from the base station 10 to the terminal 20. For example, a CA pattern that allows PRS multiplexing transmission with a transmission timing error that does not affect positioning accuracy may be configured / activated / indicated.

[0043] CA patterns include, for example, intra-band CA (contiguous), intra-band CA (non-contiguous), and inter-band CA.

[0044] Note that PRS may be multiplexed between CCs by DC and transmitted to the terminal 20. In this case, DC patterns such as intra-band DC (contiguous), intra-band DC (non-contiguous), and inter-band DC may be set / enabled / instructed from the base station 10 to the terminal 20. The DC pattern is an example of a carrier multiplexing pattern. In the following explanation, the explanation regarding the CA pattern also applies to the DC pattern.

[0045] When a CA pattern for PRS multiplexing is configured / activated / indicated (configure / activate / indicate) from the base station 10 to the terminal 20 by RRC / MAC-CE / DCI, the setting in RRC corresponds to, for example, S102 in FIG.

[0046] Then, for example, after S102, the CA pattern for PRS multiplexing may be enabled or instructed by MAC-CE or DCI.

[0047] As an example, in S102, setting information indicating that PRS multiplexing will be performed in intra-band CA (contiguous), intra-band CA (non-contiguous), and inter-band CA is set from the base station 10 to the terminal 20. Thereafter, for example, when the base station 10 (or the LMF 30) decides to perform positioning by PRS multiplexing in intra-band CA (contiguous), it transmits activation / instruction of intra-band CA (contiguous) to the terminal 20 by MAC-CE / DCI.

[0048] Terminal 20 assumes that PRS multiplexing is performed between multiple CCs using the CA pattern notified by base station 10, and transmits PRS multiplexed using the CA of that CA pattern in the UL, and receives PRS multiplexed using the CA of that CA pattern in the DL.

[0049] The base station 10 assumes that PRS multiplexing will be performed between multiple CCs using the CA pattern notified to the terminal 20, and transmits PRS multiplexed using the CA of that CA pattern in the DL mode, and receives PRS multiplexed using the CA of that CA pattern in the UL mode.

[0050] <Example 0: Designation of positioning method> The positioning method that enables PRS multiplexing may be defined in the specifications or may be set by the base station 10 to the terminal 20.

[0051] In a case where the specifications specify the positioning methods that enable PRS multiplexing, it is assumed that the specifications specify that "PRS multiplexing is enabled only for positioning method A and positioning method B." In this case, if positioning method A is set for terminal 20 in S102 of Fig. 4, it is assumed that PRS multiplexing is enabled for terminal 20. Specifically, it is assumed that terminal 20 receives PRSs multiplexed among multiple CCs from base station 10 and performs measurements, for example.

[0052] As a more specific example, if it is specified that "PRS multiplexing is only available with angle-based positioning methods," terminal 20 assumes that PRS multiplexing = enable only when an angle-based positioning method (e.g., UL-AoA / DL-AoD) is configured.

[0053] Furthermore, if the above-mentioned specification is not made (or is made), for example, the base station 10 may configure / activate / indicate (configure / activate / indicate) to the terminal 20 by RRC / MAC-CE / DCI that "PRS multiplexing is available only for positioning method A and positioning method B."

[0054] <Example 0: Muting pattern> When PRS multiplexing for DL-PRS is configured by the base station 10 to the terminal 20, the terminal 20 may assume that a muting pattern indicating frequency resources for muting of the DL-PRS is configured.

[0055] The muting pattern is information indicating resources from which the base station 10 does not transmit a signal (in other words, transmits a signal of 0 power) among the DL-PRS resources set in the terminal 20. The resources indicated in the muting pattern enable the terminal 20 to receive DL-PRS from base stations other than the base station 10 satisfactorily. The muting pattern can be represented by, for example, a bitmap.

[0056] The muting pattern may be configured by RRC from base station 10 to terminal 20 together with the DL-PRS configuration, or may be configured separately from the DL-PRS configuration. For example, the DL-PRS configuration and the muting pattern configuration may be performed in S102 of FIG. 4.

[0057] Furthermore, by notifying a muting pattern once, only the time resource may be notified to terminal 20, only the frequency resource may be notified to terminal 20, or both the time resource and the frequency resource may be notified to terminal 20.

[0058] The unit of the frequency resource notified by the muting pattern may be CC, BWP, or RB.

[0059] For example, consider a case where DL-PRS is multiplexed by CC1 and CC2. In this case, when notifying the frequency resource of the muting pattern on a CC-by-CC basis, the frequency resource of the muting pattern is indicated in the form of, for example, "CC1=mute."

[0060] When notifying the frequency resource of the muting pattern in BWP units, the frequency resource of the muting pattern is specified in the form of, for example, "BWP1=mute of CC1."

[0061] When the frequency resource of the muting pattern is notified in units of RB, the frequency resource of the muting pattern is indicated in the form of, for example, "RB1 to RB10 of BWP1 of CC1=mute."

[0062] Note that the muting pattern may be updated / indicated by MAC-CE / DCI.

[0063] For example, in S102 of Figure 4, if muting pattern 1 is set to terminal 20 for DL-PRS setting A, in the steps after S102, for example, MAC-CE or DCI instructs (updates) terminal 20 to set muting pattern 2 for DL-PRS setting A.

[0064] Also, for example, in S102 of FIG. 4, when DL-PRS setting A is made and no muting pattern is set, muting pattern 1 for DL-PRS setting A is instructed to terminal 20 by, for example, MAC-CE or DCI.

[0065] <Example 0: Capability information reporting> The terminal 20 may report capability information (UE capability) related to PRS multiplexing to the NW. Reporting the capability information corresponds to S101 in FIG. 4. The capability information related to PRS multiplexing is, for example, capability information indicating whether or not PRS multiplexing is supported. For example, the capability information includes information corresponding to supporting PRS multiplexing between CCs in a certain band combination, but not supporting PRS multiplexing between CCs in a different band combination.

[0066] The unit of the capability information indicating whether PRS multiplexing is supported is not limited to a specific unit and may be any unit. For example, the unit of the capability information may be per FSPC (Feature Set Per Component-carrier: i.e., per CC per band per BC), per FS (Feature Set: i.e., per band per BC), per BC (Band Combination), per band, or per UE.

[0067] For example, in the case of per UE, terminal 20 notifies base station 10 as capability information whether or not it supports PRS multiplexing, regardless of BC, CC, band, etc. Also, in the case of per FSPC, terminal 20 notifies base station 10 as capability information whether or not it supports PRS multiplexing for each CC for each band for each BC.

[0068] The base station 10 that has received the capability information can, for example, set (or instruct) the terminal 20 to perform PRS multiplexing within the range supported by the terminal 20.

[0069] The capability information regarding PRS multiplexing may be specified without distinguishing between UL and DL, or the capability information regarding PRS multiplexing of DL-PRS and UL-PRS may be specified separately, and the terminal 20 may report only one or both to the base station 10.

[0070] In addition, for example, the maximum CC multiplexing number of PRS, the frequency range in which PRS can be multiplexed (e.g., for FR1 and / or FR2), the band combination in which PRS can be multiplexed (e.g., intra-band CA and / or inter-band CA), etc. may be reported from the terminal 20 to the base station 10 as capability information.

[0071] Furthermore, for example, when UL positioning is performed, the terminal 20 may report the TAE value satisfied by the terminal 20 to the base station 10. Upon receiving this report, the base station 10 may, for example, not set / instruct the terminal 20 to perform PRS multiplexing when it detects that the TAE exceeds a required value.

[0072] For example, suppose that a TAE request value for a high-performance UE, a TAE request value for a medium-performance UE, and a TAE request value for a low-performance UE are specified. In this case, the base station 10 may determine whether the terminal 20 that reported the TAE value is a high-performance UE, a medium-performance UE, or a low-performance UE based on category information or the like of the terminal 20 that reported the TAE value, and may determine whether PRS multiplexing is possible by comparing the request value corresponding to the determined performance UE with the reported TAE value.

[0073] If the terminal 20 also supports PRS multiplexing in all band combinations / bands / CCs that support CA / DC, it may not notify the base station 10 of capability information related to PRS multiplexing.

[0074] According to the embodiment 0, by clarifying the operation of the terminal 20 that supports the PRS operation, it becomes possible to set an appropriate PRS multiplexing, and as a result, it is possible to reduce the influence of transmission timing errors during PRS multiplexing.

[0075] Example 1 In the first embodiment, it is assumed that when PRS multiplexing is set, the terminal 20 is notified of the measured or estimated TAE (timing error) from the NW.

[0076] <Operation Example 1 of Example 1: TAE Measurement Instruction> Fig. 5 shows an operation example 1 of the embodiment 1. In the example of Fig. 5, PRS multiplexing is set from the base station 10 to the terminal 20 according to the setting information in S201.

[0077] In S202, the base station 10 transmits a TAE measurement instruction to the terminal 20. This TAE is the TAE for transmission signals in multiple CCs of the base station 10. The TAE measurement instruction may be issued by any of RRC, MAC-CE, and DCI.

[0078] In S203, the terminal 20 measures the TAE (transmission timing error at the base station 10) by measuring the difference in reception timing of signals (e.g., reference signals) between CCs, and reports the measurement result to the base station 10 together with the combination of CC indexes (or BWP IDs) of the two CCs on which the measurement was performed.

[0079] After reporting the TAE to the base station 10, the base station 10 may set a positioning method according to the TAE for the terminal 20. For example, if the TAE is smaller than a threshold, the base station 10 may set a timing-based positioning method, and if the TAE is larger than the threshold, the base station 10 may set an angle-based positioning method.

[0080] It may also be assumed that a different positioning method is set for each CC in terminal 20. For example, after TAE measurement is performed between CC#1 and CC#2 and reported to base station 10, base station 10 may set TDOA for CC#1 and DL-AoD for CC#2 for terminal 20.

[0081] Furthermore, the terminal 20 may assume that a reference signal for measuring the TAE is set by the base station 10, or may measure the TAE using the PRS.

[0082] Alternatively, the terminal 20 may receive the DL-PRS, measure the TAE, and perform positioning using the TAE. Alternatively, the terminal 20 may perform positioning using the TAE notified to the terminal 20 in a second operation example described later.

[0083] <Operation Example 2 of Embodiment 1: TAE Notification> In the second operation example of the first embodiment, it is assumed that the terminal 20 is notified by the base station 10 of a combination of CC indexes (or BWP IDs) and the TAE for that combination.

[0084] Fig. 6 shows an operation example 2 of the first embodiment. In the example of Fig. 6, PRS multiplexing is set from the base station 10 to the terminal 20 based on the setting information in S301. In S302, the base station 10 notifies the terminal 20 of a TAE for each CC combination. Note that after S301, as described above, the base station 10 may notify the terminal 20 of PRS multiplexing enable by MAC-CE or the like.

[0085] In S303, for example, as will be described later, PRS multiplexing can be switched between enable and disable.

[0086] The TAE notified in S302 above may be in time units (for example, ns / μs), may be an error level (for example, high / low), or may be other information.

[0087] When the TAE notifies the error level, the threshold or definition of each level (e.g., TAE 0 to 3 ns: low, 3 to 260 ns: high) may be defined in the specifications. Also, the threshold or definition of the error level (e.g., TAE 0 to 3 ns: low, 3 to 260 ns: high) may be set from the base station 10 to the terminal 20.

[0088] As shown in S303 above, the terminal 20 can switch between enable and disable of PRS multiplexing according to the TAE notified from the base station 10.

[0089] For example, when terminal 20 detects that the TAE between certain CCs is greater than a threshold (e.g., X), it disables PRS multiplexing between those CCs. In this case, terminal 20 measures and reports the PRS for each CC (PRS per CC). Here, multiple measurement results for multiple CCs are reported.

[0090] Furthermore, when terminal 20 detects that the TAE between certain CCs is smaller than the threshold, it enables PRS multiplexing between those CCs. In this case, terminal 20 measures and reports the multiplexed PRSs simultaneously transmitted by the multiple CCs (multiple CCs whose TAE is smaller than the threshold). Here, one measurement result is reported.

[0091] According to the first embodiment, the terminal 20 can measure the TAE, thereby compensating for positioning errors caused by the TAE. Furthermore, the base station 10 notifies the terminal 20 of the TAE, which allows the terminal 20 to determine whether to perform a PRS multiplexing operation. As a result, the influence of transmission timing errors during PRS multiplexing can be reduced.

[0092] Example 2 Next, a second embodiment will be described. In the second embodiment, it is assumed that a TAE dedicated to positioning is specified in a specification or the like. An example of the specified content is shown in Fig. 7. Fig. 7 shows an example in which a TAE dedicated to positioning is added to the existing specification shown in Fig. 3. The column "For positioning" in Fig. 7 indicates a TAE dedicated to positioning.

[0093] The values ​​in the "For positioning" column in FIG. 7 mean that only when a DL-PRS is transmitted from the base station 10, the DL-PRS is transmitted from the small antenna connector of the TAE.

[0094] When PRS multiplexing is set, the terminal 20 assumes that it will receive a PRS CC-multiplexed with a TAE within the above-specified range from the base station 10, and receives the PRS. Note that the values ​​in the "For positioning" column shown in Fig. 7 are examples.

[0095] Similar to the above example, a TAE dedicated to positioning may be defined in specifications etc. for the UL-PRS transmitted from terminal 20. In this case, terminal 20 transmits the UL-PRS from an antenna connector with a small TAE only when transmitting the UL-PRS.

[0096] Both the base station 10 and the terminal 20 may use an antenna connector that reduces the TAE specified for positioning, and transmit signals for purposes other than positioning.

[0097] According to the third embodiment, it is not necessary to perform TAE measurement on the terminal 20 side, and the influence of transmission timing errors during PRS multiplexing can be reduced.

[0098] (Other examples and variations) Below, examples (variations) that can be applied to any of Examples 0 to 2 will be described.

[0099] In this embodiment, DL-PRS is used as the DL reference signal used for positioning, but this is just an example, and a DL reference signal (or synchronization signal) different from DL-PRS may be used instead of DL-PRS. Also, a signal other than SRS for positioning may be used as UL-PRS.

[0100] Although the wireless communication system of this embodiment is assumed to be an NR system, the technology according to the present invention is not limited to NR and can be applied to other systems. Furthermore, a plurality of systems may coexist. For example, the technology according to the present invention can be applied to a system in which LTE and NR coexist.

[0101] Furthermore, the "setting information" used in this embodiment may be specific information (for example, a set of CC indexes, PRS settings, etc.), or may be a number (index) that specifies specific information.

[0102] In this embodiment, "CC (Component Carrier)" may be replaced with "PFL (Positioning Frequency Layer)", "Positioning component carrier", or the like.

[0103] Furthermore, "inter-CC multiplexing of PRS" may be interpreted as "PRS multiplexing," "PRS aggregation," "PRS carrier aggregation," "carrier aggregation for positioning," "simultaneous PRS transmission," or the like.

[0104] Furthermore, "muting pattern" may be read as "muting option," "deactivated pattern," "activated pattern," etc.

[0105] In addition, in this embodiment, inter-CC multiplexing may be referred to as inter-BWP multiplexing. In either case of inter-CC multiplexing or inter-BWP multiplexing, multiplexing between carriers is performed as a PRS transmission operation, so inter-CC multiplexing and inter-BWP multiplexing may be collectively referred to as inter-carrier multiplexing.

[0106] Furthermore, TAE may refer to the transmission timing error between CCs or may refer to the transmission timing error between bands.

[0107] (Device configuration) Next, a description will be given of examples of functional configurations of the base station 10 and the terminal 20 that execute the processes and operations described above. The base station 10 and the terminal 20 include functions for implementing all of the above-described embodiments. However, the base station 10 and the terminal 20 may each be provided with only the functions of any of the embodiments.

[0108] <Base station 10> Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the base station 10. As shown in Fig. 8, the base station 10 has a transmitting unit 110, a receiving unit 120, a setting unit 130, and a control unit 140. The functional configuration shown in Fig. 8 is merely an example. The names of the functional divisions and functional units may be any as long as they can perform the operations according to the embodiment of the present invention. The transmitting unit 110 and the receiving unit 120 may be called a communication unit.

[0109] The transmitter 110 includes a function of generating a signal to be transmitted to the terminal 20 and transmitting the signal wirelessly. The receiver 120 includes a function of receiving various signals transmitted from the terminal 20 and acquiring, for example, information of a higher layer from the received signals. The transmitter 110 also has a function of transmitting a PRS, NR-PSS, NR-SSS, NR-PBCH, DL / UL control signal, DL data, etc. to the terminal 20. The transmitter 110 and the receiver 120 also communicate with the LMF 30. The receiver 120 also receives a PRS multiplexed among multiple CCs, and the transmitter 110 can transmit a PRS multiplexed among multiple CCs.

[0110] The setting unit 130 stores preset setting information and various setting information to be transmitted to the terminal 20 in a storage device, and reads out the information from the storage device as needed. The control unit 140 performs, for example, resource allocation and overall control of the base station 10. The control unit 140 also performs measurements using the received PRS. Note that the functional unit related to signal transmission in the control unit 140 may be included in the transmitting unit 110, and the functional unit related to signal reception in the control unit 140 may be included in the receiving unit 120. The transmitting unit 110 and the receiving unit 120 may also be called a transmitter and a receiver, respectively. The function of the setting unit 130 may also be included in the control unit 140.

[0111] <Terminal 20> Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the terminal 20. As shown in Fig. 9, the terminal 20 has a transmitting unit 210, a receiving unit 220, a setting unit 230, and a control unit 240. The functional configuration shown in Fig. 9 is merely an example. The names of the functional divisions and functional units may be any as long as they can execute the operations related to the embodiment of the present invention. The transmitting unit 210 and the receiving unit 220 may be called a communication unit.

[0112] The transmitter 210 creates a transmission signal from transmission data and transmits the transmission signal wirelessly. The receiver 220 receives various signals wirelessly and acquires higher layer signals from the received physical layer signals. The receiver 220 can also receive PRSs multiplexed among multiple CCs, and the transmitter 210 can transmit PRSs multiplexed among multiple CCs.

[0113] The setting unit 230 stores various setting information received from the base station 10 by the receiving unit 220 in a storage device, and reads it out from the storage device as needed. The setting unit 230 also stores setting information that is set in advance. The control unit 240 performs overall control of the terminal 20, etc. The control unit 240 can also measure PRS. Note that the functional unit related to signal transmission in the control unit 240 may be included in the transmitting unit 210, and the functional unit related to signal reception in the control unit 240 may be included in the receiving unit 220. The transmitting unit 210 and the receiving unit 220 may also be called a transmitter and a receiver, respectively. The function of the setting unit 230 may also be included in the control unit 240.

[0114] The terminal 20 and the base station 10 may be configured as the terminals and base stations described in the following sections, for example. (Section 1) a receiving unit that receives, from a base station, configuration information for a positioning reference signal multiplexed among a plurality of carriers; a control unit that assumes that the reference signal is multiplexed among a plurality of carriers according to a carrier multiplexing pattern notified from the base station; A terminal comprising: (Section 2) The multiplexing of the reference signal among multiple carriers is enabled only for a specific positioning method. 1. The terminal described in paragraph 1. (Section 3) The receiver receives muting information indicating a frequency resource of the reference signal from the base station. 2. A terminal according to claim 1 or 2. (Section 4) a transmitter that transmits capability information indicating whether the base station supports transmission or reception of a positioning reference signal multiplexed among a plurality of carriers; 4. The terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: (Section 5) The receiving unit receives an instruction to measure a transmission timing error between carriers or information indicating a transmission timing error between carriers from the base station. A terminal according to any one of paragraphs 1 to 4. (Section 6) a transmitter that transmits configuration information of a positioning reference signal multiplexed among a plurality of carriers to a terminal; a control unit that assumes that the reference signal is multiplexed among a plurality of carriers according to a carrier multiplexing pattern notified to the terminal; A base station comprising:

[0115] Any of the configurations described above can reduce the effect of transmission timing errors when a reference signal used for positioning is multiplexed and transmitted across multiple carriers. Furthermore, according to the second paragraph, PRS multiplexing can be applied only to appropriate measurement methods. According to the third paragraph, muting in PRS multiplexing can be appropriately controlled. Furthermore, according to the fourth paragraph, the base station can determine whether a terminal can support PRS multiplexing. According to the fifth paragraph, control based on transmission timing errors can be appropriately performed.

[0116] (Hardware configuration) The block diagrams (FIGS. 8 and 9) used in the description of the above embodiments show functional blocks. These functional blocks (components) are realized by any combination of at least one of hardware and software. Furthermore, the method of realizing each functional block is not particularly limited. That is, each functional block may be realized using one device that is physically or logically coupled, or may be realized using two or more devices that are physically or logically separated and connected directly or indirectly (for example, by wire, wirelessly, etc.). The functional block may be realized by combining the one device or the multiple devices with software.

[0117] Functions include, but are not limited to, judgment, determination, judgment, calculation, computation, processing, derivation, investigation, search, confirmation, reception, transmission, output, access, resolution, selection, election, establishment, comparison, assumption, expectation, consideration, broadcasting, notifying, communicating, forwarding, configuring, reconfiguring, allocation, mapping, and assignment. For example, a functional block (component) that performs transmission is called a transmitting unit or transmitter. As mentioned above, there are no particular limitations on how these functions are implemented.

[0118] For example, the base station 10, the terminal 20, etc. according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may function as a computer that performs processing of the wireless communication method of the present disclosure. Fig. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the base station 10, the terminal 20, and the LMF 30 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The base station 10, the terminal 20, and the LMF 30 described above may be physically configured as a computer device including a processor 1001, a storage device 1002, an auxiliary storage device 1003, a communication device 1004, an input device 1005, an output device 1006, a bus 1007, etc.

[0119] In the following description, the term "apparatus" can be read as a circuit, a device, a unit, etc. The hardware configuration of the base station 10 and the terminal 20 may be configured to include one or more of the apparatuses shown in the drawings, or may be configured to exclude some of the apparatuses.

[0120] Each function in the base station 10, terminal 20, and LMF 30 is realized by loading specified software (programs) onto hardware such as the processor 1001, memory device 1002, etc., so that the processor 1001 performs calculations, controls communication by the communication device 1004, and controls at least one of reading and writing data in the memory device 1002 and auxiliary memory device 1003.

[0121] The processor 1001 controls the entire computer by running, for example, an operating system. The processor 1001 may be configured as a central processing unit (CPU) including an interface with peripheral devices, a control device, an arithmetic unit, a register, etc. For example, the above-mentioned control unit 140, control unit 240, etc. may be realized by the processor 1001.

[0122] Furthermore, the processor 1001 reads programs (program codes), software modules, data, etc. from at least one of the auxiliary storage device 1003 and the communication device 1004 into the storage device 1002, and executes various processes in accordance with these. The programs used are those that cause a computer to execute at least some of the operations described in the above-described embodiments. For example, the control units 140 and 240 may be implemented by a control program stored in the storage device 1002 and running on the processor 1001. While the above-described various processes have been described as being executed by one processor 1001, they may also be executed simultaneously or sequentially by two or more processors 1001. The processor 1001 may be implemented by one or more chips. The programs may be transmitted from a network via a telecommunications line.

[0123] The storage device 1002 is a computer-readable recording medium and may be configured, for example, by at least one of a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a random access memory (RAM), etc. The storage device 1002 may also be called a register, a cache, a main memory, etc. The storage device 1002 can store executable programs (program codes), software modules, etc. for implementing a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0124] The secondary storage device 1003 is a computer-readable recording medium, and may be, for example, at least one of an optical disk such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc ROM), a hard disk drive, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk (e.g., a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a Blu-ray disc), a smart card, a flash memory (e.g., a card, a stick, a key drive), a floppy disk, a magnetic strip, etc. The secondary storage device 1003 may also be referred to as an secondary storage device. The above-mentioned storage medium may be, for example, a database, a server, or other appropriate medium including at least one of the storage device 1002 and the secondary storage device 1003.

[0125] The communication device 1004 is hardware (transmission / reception device) for communicating between computers via at least one of a wired network and a wireless network, and is also referred to as, for example, a network device, a network controller, a network card, or a communication module. The communication device 1004 may be configured to include a high-frequency switch, a duplexer, a filter, a frequency synthesizer, etc. to realize at least one of frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD). For example, a transmission / reception antenna, an amplifier unit, a transmission / reception unit, a transmission path interface, etc. may be realized by the communication device 1004. The transmission / reception unit may be implemented as a transmission unit and a reception unit that are physically or logically separated.

[0126] The input device 1005 is an input device (for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a switch, a button, a sensor, etc.) that receives input from the outside. The output device 1006 is an output device (for example, a display, a speaker, an LED lamp, etc.) that performs output to the outside. Note that the input device 1005 and the output device 1006 may be integrated into one device (for example, a touch panel).

[0127] Furthermore, each device such as the processor 1001 and the storage device 1002 is connected by a bus 1007 for communicating information. The bus 1007 may be configured using a single bus, or may be configured using different buses between each device.

[0128] Furthermore, base station 10, terminal 20, and LMF 30 may be configured to include hardware such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and some or all of the functional blocks may be realized by the hardware. For example, processor 1001 may be implemented using at least one of these pieces of hardware.

[0129] 11 shows an example of the configuration of a vehicle 2001 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 11, the vehicle 2001 includes a drive unit 2002, a steering unit 2003, an accelerator pedal 2004, a brake pedal 2005, a shift lever 2006, front wheels 2007, rear wheels 2008, an axle 2009, an electronic control unit 2010, various sensors 2021 to 2029, an information service unit 2012, and a communication module 2013. Each aspect / embodiment described in the present disclosure may be applied to a communication device mounted on the vehicle 2001, and may be applied to the communication module 2013, for example. The functions of the terminal 20 may be mounted on the communication module 2013.

[0130] The drive unit 2002 is configured, for example, by an engine, a motor, or a hybrid of an engine and a motor. The steering unit 2003 includes at least a steering wheel (also called a handle), and is configured to steer at least one of the front wheels and the rear wheels based on the operation of the steering wheel operated by the user.

[0131] The electronic control unit 2010 is composed of a microprocessor 2031, a memory (ROM, RAM) 2032, and a communication port (IO port) 2033. Signals are input to the electronic control unit 2010 from various sensors 2021 to 2029 provided in the vehicle 2001. The electronic control unit 2010 may also be called an ECU (Electronic Control Unit).

[0132] The signals from the various sensors 2021 to 2029 include a current signal from a current sensor 2021 that senses the current of the motor, a rotation speed signal of the front and rear wheels obtained by a rotation speed sensor 2022, an air pressure signal of the front and rear wheels obtained by an air pressure sensor 2023, a vehicle speed signal obtained by a vehicle speed sensor 2024, an acceleration signal obtained by an acceleration sensor 2025, an accelerator pedal depression amount signal obtained by an accelerator pedal sensor 2029, a brake pedal depression amount signal obtained by a brake pedal sensor 2026, a shift lever operation signal obtained by a shift lever sensor 2027, and a detection signal for detecting obstacles, vehicles, pedestrians, etc. obtained by an object detection sensor 2028.

[0133] The information service unit 2012 is composed of various devices, such as a car navigation system, an audio system, speakers, a television, and a radio, for providing various types of information such as driving information, traffic information, and entertainment information, and one or more ECUs for controlling these devices. The information service unit 2012 uses information obtained from external devices via the communication module 2013, etc., to provide various types of multimedia information and multimedia services to the occupants of the vehicle 2001.

[0134] The driving assistance system unit 2030 is composed of various devices that provide functions for preventing accidents and reducing the driver's driving burden, such as a millimeter-wave radar, a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), a camera, a positioning locator (e.g., GNSS, etc.), map information (e.g., high-definition (HD) map, autonomous vehicle (AV) map, etc.), a gyro system (e.g., an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit), an INS (Inertial Navigation System), etc.), an AI (Artificial Intelligence) chip, and an AI processor, as well as one or more ECUs that control these devices. The driving assistance system unit 2030 also transmits and receives various information via the communication module 2013 to realize the driving assistance function or the autonomous driving function.

[0135] The communication module 2013 can communicate with the microprocessor 2031 and components of the vehicle 2001 via the communication port. For example, the communication module 2013 transmits and receives data via the communication port 2033 to and from the drive unit 2002, steering unit 2003, accelerator pedal 2004, brake pedal 2005, shift lever 2006, front wheels 2007, rear wheels 2008, axle 2009, microprocessor 2031 and memory (ROM, RAM) 2032 in the electronic control unit 2010, and sensors 2021 to 29, which are provided in the vehicle 2001.

[0136] The communication module 2013 is a communication device that can be controlled by the microprocessor 2031 of the electronic control unit 2010 and can communicate with an external device. For example, it transmits and receives various information to and from the external device via wireless communication. The communication module 2013 may be located either inside or outside the electronic control unit 2010. The external device may be, for example, a base station, a mobile station, or the like.

[0137] The communication module 2013 transmits, via wireless communication to an external device, a current signal from the current sensor that is input to the electronic control unit 2010. The communication module 2013 also transmits, via wireless communication to an external device, the rotation speed signals of the front and rear wheels acquired by a rotation speed sensor 2022, the air pressure signals of the front and rear wheels acquired by an air pressure sensor 2023, the vehicle speed signal acquired by a vehicle speed sensor 2024, the acceleration signal acquired by an acceleration sensor 2025, the accelerator pedal depression amount signal acquired by an accelerator pedal sensor 2029, the brake pedal depression amount signal acquired by a brake pedal sensor 2026, the shift lever operation signal acquired by a shift lever sensor 2027, and the detection signals for detecting obstacles, vehicles, pedestrians, etc. acquired by an object detection sensor 2028, which are input to the electronic control unit 2010.

[0138] The communication module 2013 receives various information (traffic information, traffic signal information, inter-vehicle information, etc.) transmitted from external devices and displays it on an information service unit 2012 provided in the vehicle 2001. The communication module 2013 also stores the various information received from the external devices in a memory 2032 that can be used by the microprocessor 2031. Based on the information stored in the memory 2032, the microprocessor 2031 may control the drive unit 2002, steering unit 2003, accelerator pedal 2004, brake pedal 2005, shift lever 2006, front wheels 2007, rear wheels 2008, axle 2009, sensors 2021 to 2029, etc. provided in the vehicle 2001.

[0139] (Supplementary explanation of the embodiment) Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the disclosed invention is not limited to such embodiments, and those skilled in the art will understand various modifications, alterations, alternatives, and substitutions. While specific numerical examples have been used to facilitate understanding of the invention, unless otherwise specified, these numerical values ​​are merely examples, and any appropriate values ​​may be used. The division of items in the above description is not essential to the present invention; two or more items may be combined as needed, and items described in one item may apply to items described in another item (unless inconsistent). The boundaries between functional units or processing units in the functional block diagram do not necessarily correspond to the boundaries between physical components. The operations of multiple functional units may be performed by a single physical component, or the operations of a single functional unit may be performed by multiple physical components. The order of the processing steps described in the embodiments may be reversed as long as there is no contradiction. For convenience of processing description, the base station 10 and terminal 20 have been described using functional block diagrams. However, such devices may be implemented using hardware, software, or a combination thereof. The software operated by the processor of the base station 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention and the software operated by the processor of the terminal 20 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention may each be stored in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), EPROM, EEPROM, registers, hard disk (HDD), removable disk, CD-ROM, database, server or any other suitable storage medium.

[0140] Furthermore, the notification of information is not limited to the aspects / embodiments described in the present disclosure, and may be performed using other methods. For example, the notification of information may be performed by physical layer signaling (e.g., Downlink Control Information (DCI), Uplink Control Information (UCI)), higher layer signaling (e.g., Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, Medium Access Control (MAC) signaling, broadcast information (Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Block (SIB)), other signals, or a combination thereof. Furthermore, the RRC signaling may be referred to as an RRC message, and may be, for example, an RRC Connection Setup message, an RRC Connection Reconfiguration message, or the like.

[0141] Each aspect / embodiment described in the present disclosure may be applied to at least one of systems using LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4G (4th generation mobile communication system), 5G (5th generation mobile communication system), FRA (Future Radio Access), NR (New Radio), W-CDMA (registered trademark), GSM (registered trademark), CDMA2000, UMB (Ultra Mobile Broadband), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX (registered trademark), IEEE 802.20, UWB (Ultra-Wideband), Bluetooth (registered trademark), or other appropriate systems, and next-generation systems extended based on these. Furthermore, a combination of multiple systems (e.g., a combination of at least one of LTE and LTE-A with 5G, etc.) may also be applied.

[0142] The order of the procedures, sequences, flowcharts, etc. of each aspect / embodiment described herein may be changed unless it is consistent. For example, the methods described in this disclosure present elements of various steps using an example order and are not limited to the particular order presented.

[0143] In this specification, a specific operation that is described as being performed by the base station 10 may also be performed by its upper node in some cases. In a network consisting of one or more network nodes having the base station 10, it is clear that various operations performed for communication with the terminal 20 may be performed by at least one of the base station 10 and another network node other than the base station 10 (such as, but not limited to, an MME or an S-GW). Although the above example illustrates a case where there is one other network node other than the base station 10, the other network node may be a combination of multiple other network nodes (such as an MME and an S-GW).

[0144] The information, signals, etc. described in the present disclosure may be output from a higher layer (or a lower layer) to a lower layer (or a higher layer), or may be input / output via multiple network nodes.

[0145] Input and output information may be stored in a specific location (for example, memory) or may be managed using a management table. Input and output information may be overwritten, updated, or added to. Output information may be deleted. Input information may be sent to another device.

[0146] In the present disclosure, the determination may be made based on a value represented by one bit (0 or 1), a Boolean value (true or false), or a numerical comparison (e.g., comparison with a predetermined value).

[0147] Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.

[0148] Software, instructions, information, etc. may also be transmitted or received over a transmission medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using wired technologies (such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)), and / or wireless technologies (such as infrared, microwave), then these wired and / or wireless technologies are included within the definition of transmission media.

[0149] The information, signals, etc. described in this disclosure may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, chips, etc. that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or photons, or any combination thereof.

[0150] Note that terms explained in this disclosure and terms necessary for understanding this disclosure may be replaced with terms having the same or similar meanings. For example, at least one of a channel and a symbol may be a signal (signaling). Furthermore, a signal may be a message. Furthermore, a component carrier (CC) may be called a carrier frequency, a cell, a frequency carrier, etc.

[0151] As used in this disclosure, the terms "system" and "network" are used interchangeably.

[0152] Furthermore, the information, parameters, etc. described in the present disclosure may be expressed using absolute values, may be expressed using relative values ​​from a predetermined value, or may be expressed using other corresponding information. For example, a radio resource may be indicated by an index.

[0153] The names used for the above-described parameters are not intended to be limiting in any way. Furthermore, the mathematical expressions using these parameters may differ from those explicitly disclosed in this disclosure. The various channels (e.g., PUSCH, PUCCH, PDCCH, etc.) and information elements may be identified by any suitable names, and therefore the various names assigned to these various channels and information elements are not intended to be limiting in any way.

[0154] In this disclosure, terms such as "base station (BS)," "radio base station," "base station," "fixed station," "NodeB," "eNodeB (eNB)," "gNodeB (gNB)," "access point," "transmission point," "reception point," "transmission / reception point," "cell," "sector," "cell group," "carrier," and "component carrier" may be used interchangeably. Base stations may also be referred to by terms such as macrocell, small cell, femtocell, and picocell.

[0155] A base station can accommodate one or more (e.g., three) cells. When a base station accommodates multiple cells, the overall coverage area of ​​the base station can be divided into multiple smaller areas, and each smaller area can be provided with communication service by a base station subsystem (e.g., a small indoor base station (RRH: Remote Radio Head)). The term "cell" or "sector" refers to a part or the entire coverage area of ​​a base station and / or base station subsystem that provides communication service within this coverage.

[0156] In this disclosure, the terms "Mobile Station (MS)," "user terminal," "User Equipment (UE)," "terminal," etc. may be used interchangeably.

[0157] A mobile station may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal, mobile terminal, terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, handset, user agent, mobile client, client, or some other suitable terminology.

[0158] At least one of the base station and the mobile station may be called a transmitting device, a receiving device, a communication device, etc. At least one of the base station and the mobile station may be a device mounted on a mobile body, or the mobile body itself. The mobile body may be a vehicle (e.g., a car, an airplane, etc.), an unmanned mobile body (e.g., a drone, an autonomous vehicle, etc.), or a robot (manned or unmanned). At least one of the base station and the mobile station may also include devices that do not necessarily move during communication operations. For example, at least one of the base station and the mobile station may be an IoT (Internet of Things) device such as a sensor.

[0159] Furthermore, a base station in the present disclosure may be read as a terminal. For example, the aspects / embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to a configuration in which communication between a base station and a terminal is replaced with communication between a plurality of terminals 20 (which may be called, for example, D2D (Device-to-Device) or V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything)). In this case, the terminal 20 may be configured to have the functions of the base station 10 described above. Furthermore, terms such as "uplink" and "downlink" may be read as terms corresponding to communication between terminals (for example, "side"). For example, terms such as an uplink channel and a downlink channel may be read as a side channel.

[0160] Similarly, the term "terminal" in the present disclosure may be read as "base station." In this case, the base station may be configured to have the functions of the terminal described above.

[0161] As used in this disclosure, the terms "determining" and "determining" may encompass a wide variety of actions. "Determining" and "determining" may include, for example, judging, calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up, searching, inquiring (e.g., searching in a table, database, or other data structure), ascertaining, and the like. "Determining" and "determining" may also include receiving (e.g., receiving information), transmitting (e.g., sending information), input, output, accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory), and the like. Furthermore, "judgment" and "decision" can include regarding resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, comparing, etc. as having been "judged" or "decided." In other words, "judgment" and "decision" can include regarding some action as having been "judged" or "decided." Furthermore, "judgment (decision)" can be interpreted as "assuming," "expecting," "considering," etc.

[0162] The terms "connected," "coupled," or any variation thereof, refer to any direct or indirect connection or coupling between two or more elements, and may include the presence of one or more intermediate elements between two elements that are "connected" or "coupled" to each other. The coupling or connection between elements may be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. For example, "connected" may be read as "access." As used in this disclosure, two elements may be considered to be "connected" or "coupled" to each other using one or more wires, cables, and / or printed electrical connections, as well as electromagnetic energy having wavelengths in the radio frequency range, microwave range, and optical (both visible and invisible) range, as some non-limiting and non-exhaustive examples.

[0163] The reference signal may be abbreviated as RS (Reference Signal) or may be called a pilot depending on the applicable standard.

[0164] As used in this disclosure, the phrase "based on" does not mean "based only on," unless expressly stated otherwise. In other words, the phrase "based on" means both "based only on" and "based at least on."

[0165] As used in this disclosure, any reference to an element using a designation such as "first," "second," etc. does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. These designations may be used in this disclosure as a convenient method of distinguishing between two or more elements. Thus, a reference to a first and a second element does not imply that only two elements may be employed or that the first element must in some way precede the second element.

[0166] The "means" in the configuration of each of the above devices may be replaced with "part," "circuit," "device," etc.

[0167] When used in this disclosure, the terms "include," "including," and variations thereof are intended to be inclusive, similar to the term "comprising." Furthermore, when used in this disclosure, the term "or" is not intended to be an exclusive or.

[0168] A radio frame may be composed of one or more frames in the time domain. Each of the one or more frames in the time domain may be called a subframe. A subframe may further be composed of one or more slots in the time domain. A subframe may have a fixed time length (e.g., 1 ms) that is independent of numerology.

[0169] Numerology may be communication parameters that apply to at least one of transmission and reception of a signal or channel, such as subcarrier spacing (SCS), bandwidth, symbol length, cyclic prefix length, transmission time interval (TTI), number of symbols per TTI, radio frame structure, specific filtering operations performed by the transceiver in the frequency domain, and specific windowing operations performed by the transceiver in the time domain.

[0170] A slot may be composed of one or more symbols (such as an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol or a Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) symbol) in the time domain. A slot may be a time unit based on numerology.

[0171] A slot may include multiple minislots. Each minislot may consist of one or multiple symbols in the time domain. A minislot may also be called a subslot. A minislot may consist of fewer symbols than a slot. A PDSCH (or PUSCH) transmitted in a time unit larger than a minislot may be called PDSCH (or PUSCH) mapping type A. A PDSCH (or PUSCH) transmitted using a minislot may be called PDSCH (or PUSCH) mapping type B.

[0172] The radio frame, subframe, slot, minislot, and symbol all represent time units for transmitting signals, and may be referred to by other names corresponding to the radio frame, subframe, slot, minislot, and symbol.

[0173] For example, one subframe may be called a transmission time interval (TTI), multiple consecutive subframes may be called a TTI, or one slot or one minislot may be called a TTI. That is, at least one of the subframe and the TTI may be a subframe (1 ms) in existing LTE, a period shorter than 1 ms (for example, 1-13 symbols), or a period longer than 1 ms. Note that the unit representing the TTI may be called a slot, minislot, etc. instead of a subframe.

[0174] Here, TTI refers to, for example, the smallest time unit for scheduling in wireless communication. For example, in an LTE system, a base station performs scheduling to allocate wireless resources (such as frequency bandwidth and transmission power that can be used by each terminal 20) to each terminal 20 in TTI units. Note that the definition of TTI is not limited to this.

[0175] The TTI may be a transmission time unit for a channel-encoded data packet (transport block), a code block, a code word, etc., or may be a processing unit for scheduling, link adaptation, etc. When a TTI is given, the time interval (e.g., the number of symbols) to which a transport block, a code block, a code word, etc. is actually mapped may be shorter than the TTI.

[0176] When one slot or one minislot is called a TTI, one or more TTIs (i.e., one or more slots or one or more minislots) may be the minimum time unit for scheduling. Also, the number of slots (minislots) constituting the minimum time unit for scheduling may be controlled.

[0177] A TTI having a time length of 1 ms may be called a regular TTI (TTI in LTE Rel. 8-12), normal TTI, long TTI, regular subframe, normal subframe, long subframe, slot, etc. A TTI shorter than a regular TTI may be called a shortened TTI, short TTI, partial or fractional TTI, shortened subframe, short subframe, minislot, subslot, slot, etc.

[0178] In addition, a long TTI (e.g., a normal TTI, a subframe, etc.) may be interpreted as a TTI having a time length of more than 1 ms, and a short TTI (e.g., a shortened TTI, etc.) may be interpreted as a TTI having a TTI length shorter than the TTI length of a long TTI and equal to or greater than 1 ms.

[0179] A resource block (RB) is a resource allocation unit in the time domain and frequency domain, and may include one or more consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. The number of subcarriers included in an RB may be the same regardless of numerology, for example, 12. The number of subcarriers included in an RB may also be determined based on numerology.

[0180] The time domain of an RB may include one or more symbols and may have a length of one slot, one minislot, one subframe, or one TTI. One TTI, one subframe, etc. may each be composed of one or more resource blocks.

[0181] Note that one or more RBs may also be called a physical resource block (PRB), a sub-carrier group (SCG), a resource element group (REG), a PRB pair, an RB pair, or the like.

[0182] Furthermore, a resource block may be composed of one or more resource elements (REs). For example, one RE may be a radio resource region of one subcarrier and one symbol.

[0183] A Bandwidth Part (BWP) (which may also be referred to as a fractional bandwidth) may represent a subset of contiguous common resource blocks (RBs) for a given numerology on a given carrier, where the common RBs may be identified by their index relative to a common reference point of the carrier. PRBs may be defined in a given BWP and numbered within that BWP.

[0184] The BWP may include a BWP for UL (UL BWP) and a BWP for DL ​​(DL BWP). One or more BWPs may be configured for a UE within one carrier.

[0185] At least one of the configured BWPs may be active, and the UE may not expect to transmit or receive a given signal / channel outside the active BWP. Note that the terms "cell," "carrier," etc. in this disclosure may be read as "BWP."

[0186] The above-described structures of radio frames, subframes, slots, minislots, symbols, etc. are merely examples. For example, the number of subframes included in a radio frame, the number of slots per subframe or radio frame, the number of minislots included in a slot, the number of symbols and RBs included in a slot or minislot, the number of subcarriers included in an RB, the number of symbols in a TTI, the symbol length, the cyclic prefix (CP) length, etc. may be changed in various ways.

[0187] In this disclosure, where articles are added by translation, such as a, an, and the in English, the disclosure may include that the nouns following these articles are in the plural form.

[0188] In the present disclosure, the term "A and B are different" may mean "A and B are different from each other." The term may also mean "A and B are each different from C." Terms such as "separate" and "coupled" may also be interpreted in the same way as "different."

[0189] Each aspect / embodiment described in this disclosure may be used alone, in combination, or switched depending on the implementation. Furthermore, notification of predetermined information (e.g., notification that "X is true") is not limited to being done explicitly, but may be done implicitly (e.g., by not notifying the predetermined information).

[0190] In the present disclosure, an SS block or a CSI-RS is an example of a synchronization signal or a reference signal.

[0191] Although the present disclosure has been described in detail above, it is clear to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described herein. The present disclosure can be implemented in modified and altered forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the claims. Therefore, the description of the present disclosure is intended to be illustrative and does not have any limiting meaning on the present disclosure. [Explanation of symbols]

[0192] 10 base station 110 Transmitter 120 Receiver 130 Setting section 140 Control Unit 20 terminals 210 Transmitter 220 Receiving unit 230 Setting Section 240 Control Unit 30 LMF 1001 processor 1002 Storage device 1003 Auxiliary storage device 1004 Communication equipment 1005 Input Device 1006 Output Device 2001 Vehicle 2002 Drive unit 2003 Steering Section 2004 accelerator pedal 2005 brake pedal 2006 Shift Lever 2007 front wheel 2008 rear wheel 2009 Axle 2010 Electronic Control Unit 2012 Information Services Department 2013 Communication Module 2021 Current Sensor 2022 RPM Sensor 2023 Air Pressure Sensor 2024 Vehicle speed sensor 2025 Acceleration Sensor 2026 Brake pedal sensor 2027 Shift lever sensor 2028 Object Detection Sensor 2029 Accelerator pedal sensor 2030 Driving Assistance Systems Department 2031 microprocessor 2032 memory (ROM, RAM) 2033 Communication port (IO port)

Claims

1. a receiving unit that receives, from a base station, configuration information for a positioning reference signal multiplexed among a plurality of carriers; a control unit that assumes that the reference signal is multiplexed among a plurality of carriers according to a carrier multiplexing pattern notified by the base station; a transmitter unit, A terminal, wherein the receiving unit receives a positioning reference signal transmitted using a plurality of carriers of the carrier multiplexing pattern, or the transmitting unit transmits a positioning reference signal using a plurality of carriers of the carrier multiplexing pattern, The receiving unit receives an instruction to measure a transmission timing error between carriers or information indicating a transmission timing error between carriers from the base station. Terminal.

2. The multiplexing of the reference signal among multiple carriers is enabled only for a specific positioning method. The terminal according to claim 1 .

3. The receiver receives muting information indicating a frequency resource of the reference signal from the base station.

3. The terminal according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The transmitter transmits capability information to the base station indicating whether transmission or reception of a positioning reference signal multiplexed among a plurality of carriers is supported. A terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. a transmitter that transmits configuration information of a positioning reference signal multiplexed among a plurality of carriers to a terminal; a control unit that assumes that the reference signal is multiplexed among a plurality of carriers according to a carrier multiplexing pattern notified to the terminal; a receiving unit, A base station, wherein the receiving unit receives a positioning reference signal transmitted using a plurality of carriers of the carrier multiplexing pattern, or the transmitting unit transmits a positioning reference signal using a plurality of carriers of the carrier multiplexing pattern, The transmitter transmits to the terminal an instruction to measure a transmission timing error between carriers or information indicating the transmission timing error between carriers. Base station.

Citation Information

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